Probing and controlling spin chirality in Mott insulators by circularly polarized laser

Scalar spin chirality, a three-body spin correlation that breaks time-reversal symmetry, is revealed to couple directly to circularly polarized laser. This is shown by the Floquet formalism for the periodically driven repulsive Hubbard model with a strong-coupling expansion. A systematic derivation of the effective low-energy Hamiltonian for a spin degree of freedom reveals that the coupling constant for scalar spin chirality can become significant for a situation in which the driving frequency and the on-site interaction are comparable. This implies that the scalar chirality can be induced by circularly polarized lights, or that it can be used conversely for probing the chirality in Mott insulators as a circular dichroism.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Evaluation of amine emissions from the post-combustion CO2 capture pilot plant

AbstractIn this work, we evaluated amine emissions from 10ton-CO2/day scale pilot plant in Mikawa Power Plant of Sigma Power Co. Ltd. within TS-1 solvent. Firstly, we investigated that how sampling gas flow rate affects measured value of amine concentration in flue gas by using on-line sampling method with PTR-MS analyzer. It was found that the error from an iso-kinetic sampling rises sharply for lower sampling velocities and in the range of higher sample stream velocities, however the error is lower. Secondly, we compared between beginning of operation and 2,800hours operation in terms of amine emissions at Mikawa pilot plant under one set of conditions. At beginning of operation, there were no degraded amines in TS-1 solution. Thus, there were no amine emissions of degraded amines. However, at 2,800hours operating, in addition to TS-1 emissions, some quantity of emissions of degraded amines were detected even though degraded amines were much less than TS-1 main amine in TS-1 solution. Toshiba improved operating conditions such as plant system, water wash system to reduce the amount of amine emissions. As a result, the latest tests showed lower emissions of less than 1 ppm(v/v) at 2,800hours operation. A concentration of degraded amine [D] in TS-1 solution at 2,800hours operation, which was nearly detection limit, was lower than other degraded amines. Nevertheless, degraded amine [D] accounted for the greater part of amine emissions after water wash was improved. This result suggested that it is crucial to reduce the volatility of emitted degraded amines in order to improve performance of suppression amine emissions further. Then, finally we evaluated effect of addition acid to reduce the volatility of degraded amine [D]. The results in diluted aqueous amines at 40°C showed that effectiveness of acid for reducing amine volatility is in the order: sulfuric acid > oxalic acid carbonic acid produced by 10%CO2 > boric acid

A novel nonsense mutation in a Japanese family with ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 2 (AOA2)

We report a 67-year-old Japanese woman with ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 2 (AOA2). She was born to consanguineous parents and showed a teenage onset, a slowly progressive cerebellar ataxia and sensory-motor neuropathy and an elevated level of serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). All of these clinical features were consistent with typical AOA2. She lacked oculomotor apraxia, as frequently observed in previously reported AOA2 patients. She was homozygous for a novel nonsense mutation, Glu385Ter (E385X), in the senataxin gene (SETX). To our knowledge, this is the fifth Japanese family with genetically confirmed AOA2. The mutations in SETX in Japanese AOA2 families are heterogeneous, except for M274I, which has been found in two unrelated families. More extensive screening by serum AFP followed by molecular genetic analysis of SETX in patients with Friedreich's ataxia-like phenotype may show that AOA2 is more common in Japan than previously thought. Journal of Human Genetics (2009) 54, 746-748; doi: 10.1038/jhg.2009.104; published online 6 November 2009ArticleJOURNAL OF HUMAN GENETICS. 54(12):746-748 (2009)journal articl

cis interaction of CD153 with TCR/CD3 is crucial for the pathogenic activation of senescence-associated T cells

老化T細胞が自己免疫病や慢性炎症疾患を引き起こすメカニズムを解明 --老化関連疾患克服への新しいアプローチ--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-09-22.With age, senescence-associated (SA) CD4+ T cells that are refractory to T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation are increased along with spontaneous germinal center (Spt-GC) development prone to autoantibody production. We demonstrate that CD153 and its receptor CD30 are expressed in SA-T and Spt-GC B cells, respectively, and deficiency of either CD153 or CD30 results in the compromised increase of both cell types. CD153 engagement on SA-T cells upon TCR stimulation causes association of CD153 with the TCR/CD3 complex and restores TCR signaling, whereas CD30 engagement on GC B cells induces their expansion. Administration of an anti-CD153 antibody blocking the interaction with CD30 suppresses the increase in both SA-T and Spt-GC B cells with age and ameliorates lupus in lupus-prone mice. These results suggest that the molecular interaction of CD153 and CD30 plays a central role in the reciprocal activation of SA-T and Spt-GC B cells, leading to immunosenescent phenotypes and autoimmunity

学生の授業評価による授業改善への一考察

In 1991, the Ministry of Education enacted Standards for the Establishment of Universities in the form of a Ministry order. In accordance with Stndards, it should be that monitoring and evaluation should be primarily self-monitoring and self-evaluation by university itself. We have devoted sufficient attention to developing an approach towards the teaching of students for five years. We make a report on a betterment of lecturing by students\u27 evaluation, analyzing students\u27 evaluating for classroom lessons during the second semester in 1996. Therefore, we arrived at the conclusion that there is correlation between our teaching methods and students\u27 attidudes towards classroom lessons, but there is no correlation between contents of teaching and students\u27 attidudes. Diverse patterns of each department give us suggestions as to the stage of students\u27 understanding educational principles. It will be necessary for us to carry out a well-organized and systematic education aimed at the elevation of students\u27 motivation for learning and at enabling students to assimilate what has been taught

Endomucin, a CD34-like sialomucin, marks hematopoietic stem cells throughout development

To detect as yet unidentified cell-surface molecules specific to hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), a modified signal sequence trap was successfully applied to mouse bone marrow (BM) CD34−c-Kit+Sca-1+Lin− (CD34−KSL) HSCs. One of the identified molecules, Endomucin, is an endothelial sialomucin closely related to CD34. High-level expression of Endomucin was confined to the BM KSL HSCs and progenitor cells, and, importantly, long-term repopulating (LTR)–HSCs were exclusively present in the Endomucin+CD34−KSL population. Notably, in the yolk sac, Endomucin expression separated multipotential hematopoietic cells from committed erythroid progenitors in the cell fraction positive for CD41, an early embryonic hematopoietic marker. Furthermore, developing HSCs in the intraembryonic aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM) region were highly enriched in the CD45−CD41+Endomucin+ fraction at day 10.5 of gestation (E10.5) and in the CD45+CD41+Endomucin+ fraction at E11.5. Detailed analyses of these fractions uncovered drastic changes in their BM repopulating capacities as well as in vitro cytokine responsiveness within this narrow time frame. Our findings establish Endomucin as a novel cell-surface marker for LTR-HSCs throughout development and provide a powerful tool in understanding HSC ontogeny